A bit of learning on dof ב: on the Gemara of בבא קמא

Continuing the learning on בבא קמא common law.

The fundamental distinction between the din of תם vs. מועד, the מאי נפקא מינה distinction between having to flee to a City of Refuge and stand before a Capital Crimes small Sanhedrin court from a simple Torts damages court.  The former has the power to impose מכות, up to 39 lashes to atone for the din of כרת.  It has the power to sell an Israel to work as an עבד עברי, indentured servant, as atonement for accidental murder.  The damages caused by a תם animal do not hold anywhere near the risks of a person continuing to keep a מועד animal within the confines of his domains.   Post Shoah, in my opinion, Europe, Britain, and Russia forever stamped with a permanent מועד evil reputation.  Xtian Europe has forever destroyed its reputation as a society which merits anything other than complete and total contempt.  Europeans simply have no “fear of heaven”.  Nothing concerning the cultures or customs, manners or ways of Europe merits approval, even less so assimilation.  Every Man, Woman, and child sweats the stench of the ghettos, and death camps.  Europe has made itself into an absolute abomination, more gross than the stink of human sacrifices, a despicable Apartheid civilization.

Israeli foreign policy should therefore prioritize and strive to establish Most Favored Nations trading partnership/alliance with all the Arab and Muslim countries in the Middle East and North Africa.  Building an international trade route that passes through the Sinai to Egypt till Morocco & Western Sahara; that likewise branches to Sudan, Eritrea, and Ethiopia.  Called the foreign policy of עשרת דבורות.  Israel must bring rain to the Sinai and the Sahara deserts by digging a canal by means of tunnel machines from Ashdod to the Dead Sea.  This descent would require building multiple dams along the canal route.  The electricity generated, used to convert oxygen & hydrogen into gases and increase the salinity of the Mediterranean waters to match that within the Dead Sea. 

These to critical gases mixed with sand and salt and reintroduced to the wind currents.  Through this cloud seeding technique and a blessing from HaShem Israel could serve as the medium to make the Sinai and Sahara deserts bloom and transform to the Breadbasket of the Planet.  Radically changing the economies of the Middle East and North Africa.  Such a foreign policy would make the Suez Canal far more attractive and profitable.  Israel makes שלום with our neighbors by resolving the Canaani/dhimmi stateless Arab refugee crisis by supplying Arab farm workers. Desperately needed by these new agricultural based economies.  The דיוק made on נזקים, bring massive economic prosperity to the region.

Israel must learn from the error made by the Ottoman empire.  The latter built itself as a Great Power through endless wars which bankrupted and also corrupted the non Muslim Janissary eunuchs.  The Sultans dependence upon this non-Muslim warrior class, eventually  “produced” the 19th Century ‘Sick Man of Europe’.  Currently Israel’s reputation also stands upon the success of the IDF.  But a far more stable ‘good name reputation’ rests upon Israel providing the rains which cause the deserts to bloom.  The Saudis, well aware that they enjoy a window of opportunity to diversify their economy on something more than simple petroleum.  So too and how much more so, the Jewish state of Israel.  Building the reputation of a ‘good name’ compares to a ship sailing on a tranquil ocean.  An interpretation of יראת שמים.

The prophetic mussar of T’NaCH and Talmud rests upon the יסוד of יראת שמים.  Yidden davven the mussar which our Siddur prioritizes:

לא בגבורת הסוס יחפץ, לא בשוקי האיש ירצה. רוצה ה’ את יראיו, את המיחלים לחסדו (תהלים קמז). 

This repeated emphasis of the term את, a specific participle.  A man cannot truly seek to do mitzvot לשמה lacking fear of heaven, achieved through the dedication in tefillah of tohor middot, dedicated holy to HaShem, like as in the משל of a korban sworn oath נמשל.  What did Avraham dedicate on the altar, a ram whose horns got entangled in a bush or tohor middot?  Primary & secondary, Substance & form, משל או נמשל, the one not equal to the other.  Just as Esau, not equal to Yaacov — even though these twins share the identical mother and father.  The study of Talmud requires the discipline, that the student embraces as a top priority and necessity, the need to make the logical דיוקים whereby he learns and understands like from like.  Which tohor middah does the blessing רופא חולי עמו ישראל refer?  To the middah revealed to Moshe at Horev – חנון.  Based upon the interpretation: תעשה תפילתך במקום קבועה a דיוק from the teaching of Rabbi Shimon תפילת קבע ותפילת תחנונים.

The essence of kabbalah centers upon differentiation between tohor and tumah middot, all the other stuff simply window dressing which attracts the attention of folk who lack יראת שמים.  

ב:  וכי תימא דברי תורה מדברי קבלה לא ילפינן

Kabbalah refers to NaCH.  Obviously not to the Zohar or Ari’s mysticism.  The substance of T’NaCH common law makes a study of tohor middot precedents.  In like and equal measure as does the relationship between the Book of דברים folded back upon the 4 Books of the Written Torah.  The mitzvot in דברים function as precedents by which to interpret the k’vanna of Torah common law mussar.  Rabbi Yechuda, did not just say: “I think the name of my codification of Sanhedrin courtroom rulings should be called משנה”!  Rather the common law Book of דברים has the second name משנה תורה, just as Yaacov has the second name Israel.

The Gemara seeks to distinguish between a תם ומועד, like as did this commentary address above.  The Talmud serves as the model for the day when Jews reconquer our homelands and once again strive לשמה to rule this land with righteous common law lateral courtrooms.  Just as the kabbalah prioritizes the difference between tohor and tumah middot, all else simple window dressing, so too the Talmud prioritizes the establishment of Sanhedrin common law lateral courtrooms as the basis of Jewish faith in the sworn oath alliance with HaShem, everything else – just window dressing.  The assimilated tumah statute law codes of halacha, uproot Talmudic common law and switch to religious observance of ritualized halachot as the primary horn of faith.

מהו דתימא כי פליג רחמנא בין תם למועד.  ה”מ בתלושה אבל במחוברת אימא כולה מועדת הוא.

The “horn” of statute halachic law detaches Gemara precedents from the Mishna.  Rule #1: Never detach a Gemarah from its Home Mishna.  The entire scholarship of Gemara learning centers upon bringing precedent halachot from the whole of Sha’s with the intention to interpret the k’vanna of the language of their Home Mishna.  The Gemarah does not give two peas in a hen house about organizing halachah into religious ritual subject-matter, as did the נידוי Reshonim and Achronim scholars who made the decision to pervert the Talmud into religious books of legal dogmatism; who therein gored Jews off the דרך of Torah faith.  To such a degree that later Reform rabbis would declare Berlin as their new Jerusalem!

The sugia שמות כא: לה,לו makes a distinction when a ox תם או מועד, damages property.  Property damages do not compare to an ox killing an Israel.  A מועד that killed an Israel, if the avenger of blood caught and killed the owner of this ox while he fled to the City of Refuge, the avenger of blood the court would not hold him guilty of murder.  Did the deceased release his מועד ox with the intention that it might kill his neighbor?  The avenger of blood could easily make this defense.  The Gemara of מכות addresses the Case of two men chopping wood in the forest.  But it could never address the possibility, how to prove that a man did not purposely release a מועד ox with the intention of killing his neighbor.  Because the sages did not desire to breach the subject of hatred without cause, that would poison Jews against one another with such a degree of animosity.   The Mishna and Gemara came after the Civil War and Jewish revolts, where Jews not only brutally fought against one another, but actually sided with the Romans to slaughter Jews.

Chag Kashir to my People.

לשון הרע vs.  לשון טובה

The distinctions between a negative particular-predicate vs a positive general-applause.  When Israel left Egypt the Torah in a by-the-way reference mentions that the dogs did not bark.  When we leave our houses to go anywhere our dogs bark with great animation.  After the 10th plague, the death of all First-born, even the dogs – struck dumb!

Fear of Heaven – Master of the Good Name – בעל שם טוב.  A famous rabbinic personage who started the Hasidic Movement following the Boddan Khmelnitsky Cossacks pogroms in Ukraine and Poland during the mid 17th Century.  The response to this catastrophic disaster that duplicated, even surpassed the 1096 

Gzerot Tatnó, a Hungarian term for Rhineland massacres/German Crusades of 1096.  Europeans and Germany in particular have a permanent reputation of speaking לשון הרע against those ‘acursed Christ killer Jews’ which did not limit itself to the Blood Libels every Easter.

The Rebbe הבעל שם טוב, perhaps based upon the silence of the dogs following the 10th and final plague in Egypt, sought to rebuild the shattered Jewish survivors through לשון טובה.  He developed the Minchag/custom commonly known as the Hasidic Tishe, where supporters of the Rebbe assemble and sing often word-less nigunim, a general לשון טובה.  Many Hungarian Yidden wear what’s known as ’tish bekishes’, kaftan robes, often of blue or silver but often black in color when they attend, to this day, usually on Shabbat, a Tishe from the Rebbe; who blesses both wine and cake and gives this blessed food and drink to his People.

It’s really something to see, having visited a Tish in Mea Sharim as a בכור in Yeshiva and also when I visited Bnai Brock with the family of Chiam Dovid Brecker.  Alone, struggling to do t’shuva and return to my Yiddishkeit, Chiam Dovid often invited me into his home on Shabbat and during Chag P’sach.  He treated me as family and I hold him dear to my heart to this very day.  לשון טובה uplifts the dignity a person feels about himself and towards other Yidden.

The mussar of לשון טובה – love your neighbor as yourself.  This contrasts with the tumah of לשון הרע.  The צר עין, the jealous or evil eye.  Examples of which: Jews poisoned the wells, Jews control all the money, Jews control the government etc.  The translation of “slander” simply does not communicate the hatred felt as does the reference: צר עין which explains the poison of לשון הרע.  The tongue of the serpent that tempted Eve, which accomplished the g’lut/exile of Adam from paradise.  

A person who develops יראת שמים/fear of heaven avoids speaking לשון הרע literally like the plague.  Par’o invited Yaacov and his family into Egypt as a result of the לשון טובה. How Yosef interpreted his troublesome dreams and there after not only saved the kingdom of Egypt from the disaster of the 7 year drought but enriched the House of Par’o and brought it to a crescendo of power.  The betrayal of that Egyptian Par’o, the sages debate.  

ויקם מלך חדש על מצרים אשר לא ידע את יוסף

And arose a new king over Egypt that did not know Yosef.

The sages within the Talmud debate concerning this ‘new Par’o’ whether ‘new’ means a different king, or the same man that grew to fear the influence of Yosef.  In either case צר עין motivated this king to enslave the House of Yaacov and to rule over these slaves with absolute oppression.  In every way comparable to the pogroms mentioned above.  

Chag P’sach revolves around the axis of removing all חמץ from our domains.  What does the metaphor chametz refer?  Shall we literally say all leavening agents?  What does eating unleavened bread have to do with the P’sach aggadic mussar story?  Who bears responsibility for the צר עין of Par’o?  The Goyim oppressors or the Jewish victims?  This question, just as absurd as the minchag/custom of removing all leavening agents from within our personal domains!

The Greatest of all Torah commandments: 

אנכי ה’ אלהיך אשר הוצאתיך מארץ מצרים מבית עבדים

This commandment worded in 9 rather than 10 words.  Why refer to the revelation of the Torah at Sinai as the עשרית הדיברות.  Israel never heard 10 commandments but rather only the first two Sinai commandments!

לא יהיה לך אלהים אחרים על פני

Do not worship other Gods

Another gross absurdity.  Most rabbis hold that Judaism constitutes a religion of Monotheism.  Yet the 10 plagues judged the Gods of Egypt.  At the splitting of the Sea of Reeds, Moshe sang the song which refers to HaShem as ה’ איש מלחמה ה’ שמו/Adonai a man of war, Adonai His Name.  Does God make war on other Gods or upon created Man?   Speaking personally, myself alone, have never turned water into blood as did Par’o ministers.  Another problem: when Moshe complains to HaShem should he suddenly show up, after a 40 year absence and declare: God has sent me to take Israel out of Egypt. The responding commandment: אהיה אשר אהיה?  Since when did HaShem sing the song sung by Popeye, “I am that I am”?

The last question, understood as: I am the God of [g’lut] past and future.  And this answer, it resolves the responsibility for g’lut together with its צר עין\לשון הרע.  The first word of the Torah בראשית teaches ברית אש.  The Avot swore an oath alliance whereby HaShem and the Avot cut a brit.  This oath alliance has positive and negative parts known as blessing and curse.  If Israel abandons the Torah commandments and embraces the culture and customs of the Goyim, as did Israel in Egypt, then the curse of g’lut: צר עין\לשון הרע rains down upon Israel as did the 10 plagues judged the Gods of Egypt.  Anti Semitism judges the Gods whom assimilated and inter-married Israel currently worships. 

Therefore, Chag P’sach prioritizes the removal of all חמץ.  It teaches the prophetic mussar to remove all avoda zara: צר עין\לשון הרע from within all our domains.

How to learn the Gemara of בבא קמא

Shalom Richard,

The discipline of learning Talmudic common law, as mentioned previously centers upon the משל\נמשל דיוקים.  Our Gemara opens with 

אבות מכלל דאיכא תולדות.  

Do you see the דיוק?  Have you ever noticed the page of every Gemarah throughout the Shas Bavli?  Four lines of Rashi and Tosafot above the Gemarah.  Moshe taught the Torah to Yehoshua then to Aaron then his sons then to Israel.  Sewing two garments together repeats the loop over and over again.  The Talmud common law, based upon the model of the warp & weft of a loom.  Assimilated Talmudic Roman statute law by contrast, divorces the Halacha from its Aggaditah.  A critical and fundamental error in scholarship that causes Orthodox Judaism to go completely off the דרך.  

Herein enters the subject known as ירידות הדורות interpreted to mean: “Domino Effect”.  An example of this ירידות הדורות as expressed within the pages of the Talmud:

אמאי קרי ליה אב ואמטי קרי לה תולדה? הך דהוה במשכן חשיבא, קרי ליה אב.  הד דאל הוי במשכן חשיבא, קרי לה תולדה.  גבי טומאות תנן אבות הטומאות וכו’.

The Gemara, an edited text unto absolute elegance.  In literature they refer to this style as a general statement, followed by specific qualifying particulars.  This second specific qualifying particular the toldot do not follow the Avot.

דאילו אב מטמא אדם וכלים.  ואילו תולדות אוכלין ומשקין מטמא, אדם וכלים לא מטמא

The “difficulty” raised by this 2nd specific qualifying particular raises the question?  In שבת  the תולדות follow the אבות.  Our Gemara asks in the Case of נזקים do the תולדות follow after the אבות?  Tohor and tumah the basis of עבודת השם, fully equal in authority to keeping Shabbat!  The mitzva of Shabbat, as previously mentioned centers upon making the essential הבדלה between forbidden מלאכה and forbidden עבודה.  The statute law assimilated codes never make this fundamental distinction of understanding, defined as the separation of like from like.  Consequently the rabbis of Orthodox Judaism never kept the mitzva of shabbat.  Just as ד’ אבות נקיקין has its logical דיוק between תם ומועד, so too, the mitzva of shabbat has its logical דיוק between מלאכה ועבודה.  Failure to learn the required logical דיוקים means that just as Orthodox Jews fail to grasp that the mitzva of shabbat extends to the 6 days of chol, so too the Order of נזיקים defines the עבודה of faith: צדק צדק תרדוף.

Torah faith rejects theologies, Creeds & dogmatism; concerning belief in this or that God.  Israel left the oppression of Egyptian slavery with the purpose to conquer Canaan and rule this land with righteous common law courtroom justice.  This day and night fundamental distinction forever separates Torah faith from the faiths which defines avoda zarah belief systems in this or that God.  The Talmud teaches: “Train your tongue to say: ‘I do not know'”.  Interpreted to mean, in matters of G-d, this subject above my pay grade,  “I do not know”.  By contrast, avoda zarah makes as its focus, the matter defined theology which requires the faithful to belief in this or that God.  Herein defines the interpretation of:  “Atheist, praise HaShem”.  Torah humility rejects the Egotism which worships what I personally believe.

The T’NaCH serves as the kabbalah of the Talmud.  Many confuse the mysticism of the Middle Ages with kabbalah.  Rabbi Akiva’s kabbalah of פרדס did not know the kabbalah as developed by the later Zohar and Ari’s mysticism.  Man stumble when they confuse, or worse, replace the mysticism developed in the Middle Ages with the sealed masoret of the T’NaCH.  Later rabbinic commentaries do not replace the authority of the sealed Primary Sources of Jewish faith.  

ת”ר ג’ אבות נאמרו בשור: הקרן, והשן, והרגל.  

The sealed masoret/kabbalah learns right to the kabbalah of the Shemone Esrei!  Talmudic learning strives to understand the k’vanna of the blessings codified within the language of the Shemone Esrei.  This chiddush Rab Aaron emphasized to me, more than four times!  Just as the Talmud learns by means of precedents so too does the T’NaCH.  A huge Reshon error which asked “What’s the p’shat?”  Rather than, “What’s the prophetic mussar.  

תעשה תפילתך במקום קבועה.

Interpreted to mean: Affix a tohor middah to every Parshah of the Torah.  The revelation of the tohor middot at Horev, they affix to the 13 middle ברכות within the Shemone Esrei.  This comprehensive sh’itta of learning learns the Torah back to the Shemone Esrei.  The study of T’NaCH mussar serves to define the k’vanna of not only halachic mitzvot but also Shemone Esrei ברכות.  When a person studies the Talmud, he can learn the k’vannot which define the intent of the words expressed within the Shemone Esrei.  Interpreting the k’vanna of the ברכות day and night different then saying words by rote.  The prophetic mussar condemns approaching HaShem with words but having an empty heart.  Tefillah, a matter of the heart, not the words which the lips can pronounce by rote repetition.  

In the matter of damages, the most essential blessing:

רפאנו ה’ ונרפא, הושיענו ונושעה, כי תהלתנו אתה, והעלה רפואה שלמה לכל מכותינו, כי אל מלך רופא נאמן ורחמן אתה:  ברוך אתה ה’, רופא חולי עמו ישראל.

This blessing a תולדה of מגן אברהם.  Our Gemarah makes a פרט\כלל reference to the sugia of שמות כא: כח – לב.  This sugia makes the key distinction between a תם ומועד ox.  A מועד ox that gored and killed a person qualifies as a Capital Crime!  Not so a תם ox.  The kabbalah of the 1st Book of Kings, כב: ב – ל.  The mussar teaches concerning a tumah lying spirit, and the death of king Ah’av of Israel.  The mussar of the משנה תורה: לג: יג – יז, the blessing Moshe gave to Yosef and his two sons.  The blessing of Moshe, a double edged sword; it contains both blessing and curse, life and death.  The mussar instruction rebukes: How does a man walk before HaShem, in tohor or tumah middot?  The question of middot, interpreted to mean “middot”, which dominates how a man behaves toward his people essentially defines the k’vanna of the ברכה, רפאנו ה’ ונרפא.

Justice requires dedication, like a korban, to do mitzvot לשמה.  By contrast, a person who does mitzvot לא לשמה, does not do avodat HaShem but rather worships other Gods, like did king Ah’av.  Our Gemara instructs a mussar touching the subject of נזקים.  T’NaCH mussar applies to the living generations now.  It does not teach a history of what happened way back when, a long long time ago.

A bit of learning

Richard shalom,

Cool, I lived in Dallas for about a year.  Had permanently left my family in Midland and worked as a gas station attendant at a Shell gas station, across the street from the hospital where Kennedy died.  Dallas had a traditionally observant community, where i attended shul for the first time in my life.  I am what might qualify as an atheist, praise G-d.  Developed this conception a few years later when living in Tulsa Oklahoma learning Talmud under rabbi Asher Dov Kahn.  The latter struggled with a growing assimilated Jewish community.  By the time I met rabbi Kahn, the Jewish community had switched from Orthodox to Conservative Judaism, and had retired Rabbi Kahn.  

Rabbi Kahn introduced me to the concept of chiddushim as the Way of learning the Talmud.  An example of his Talmudic introduction to me … why do Jews place their mezuzah at a slant upon a doorpost?  The Gemarah of מנחות teaches the placement as either vertical or horizontal, but not as a slant.  This idea of chiddushim serve to explain the concept of making chiddushim interpretations as the definition of Torah learning.  Every Mishna of Rabbi Yechuda contains a chiddush.  A question that therefore applies to learning Torah, what’s the chiddush? 

The mitzva of Moshiach, another simple example, learns from the anointing of the House of Aaron as moshiach.  The death of the two sons of Aaron, their אש זרה, teaches that offering a korban לא לשמה, meaning not as an oath dedication, to establish justice among the bnai brit people, qualifies as tumah avoda zarah – the 2nd Sinai commandment.  צדק צדק תרדוף defines the k’vanna of the first Sinai commandment, to do all the mitzvot לשמה.  Mitzvot function as precedents by which they define the mussar of Torah common law.  Herein defines the relationship between mitzvot & law within the Written Torah.

The statute law codifications of the תרי”ג commandments, made famous by the Rambam and later Torah commandment codifications fails to understand this common law mitzvot to law relationship.  Instead it organizes commandments into a simplified positive/negative box codification.  Primarily because the assimilated Reshonim rabbis, during Spain’s “Golden Age”, as an example, all lacked the knowledge of Rabbi Akiva’s פרדס logic system.  Hence they relied heavily upon Greek philosopher and astrology.   Rabbi Avraham Ibn Ezra of Spain, his son, converted to Islam.  The negative לא תעשה, commandments of assimilation and intermarriage serve as precedents which define the rejection of doing mitzvot לשמה (the 1st Sinai commandment) and the direct violation of the 2nd Sinai commandment.

The story of the 10 commandments, a popular Xtian error.  The Talmud teaches that Israel received only the opening first two commandments before the Sages demanded from Moshe that he make aliyah to Sinai and receive the rest of the תרי”ג commandments.  Why then does the Torah repeat the עשרת הדיברות in the Books of ויקרא ודברים?  This repetion serves as mussar, based upon the 10 plagues of Egypt.  The 1st commandment commands לשמה:  the phrase:  אשר הוצאתיך מארץ מצרים מבית עבדים.  Torah commands mussar, because mussar applies equally to all generations of Israel.  The four questions asked on Seder Night, the רשע child excludes himself from going out of Egypt.  Repeatedly the Talmud teaches that all Israel stood and accepted the Torah at Sinai.  What do the generations of Israel accept?  Torah prophetic mussar.  Hence the Torah chiddush of the 10 commandments serves as a mussar to remember the redemption from Egyptian slavery.  Just as Par’o hardened his heart, so too all the generations of g’lut assimilated Israel.  Our people have witnessed the plagues of antisemitism, pogroms, unilateral exile from Goyim countries, blood libels, ghetto war crimes – imprisonment, and mass slaughter genocide, yet like dogs who return and eat their own vomit – we assimilate and embrace the cultures and customs practiced by Goyim who reject the revelation of the Torah at Sinai.

Failure to keep the נעשה ונשמע oath learns directly from the floods which destroyed Mankind in the days of Noach.  Torah prophetic mussar just that profound and simple of a chiddush.  The אהיה אשר אהיה means: the God of g’lut.  G’lut comes upon our people when we break the oath brit faith, to pursue justice.  Rabbinic Judaism makes its focus the religion of Yiddishkeit, rather than the obligation to pursue justice.  A dark off the דרך perversion of the Torah.  In the shadow of this chiddush stands the scholarship of the whole of the T’NaCH and Talmudic common law.  Wisdom interprets the k’vanna of the Torah and NOT translates the words of the Torah.  Hence the language of the T’NaCH and Talmud always turns back to the mitzva of תפילה.  This mitzva NOT the translation: prayer.   But rather the dedication of tohor middot to HaShem by means of ברכות.  Meaning a תולדה of swearing a Torah oath, ברכות.  Failure to learn the Talmud as an explanation of the k’vanna of ברכות, fails to grasp that a ברכה requires שם ומלכות.  This term “kingship” (an incredibly bad translation), interpreted to mean: tohor middot!  Rav Aaron Nemuraskii taught the subject of tohor middot, as the most difficult and complex subject in the whole of the Sha’s.

T’NaCH and Talmudic common law, based upon the kabbalah of Rabbi Akiva’s פרדס logic system stands upon the יסוד of defining tohor middot.  The division of the Chumash into 54 Parshiot: 4 X 13 = 52.  The two Crowns of Torah faith: acceptance of the Blessings & Curses of the Torah upon our heads.  Before ראש השנה how many Jews answer אמן to the curses of the Torah when we read Parshat כי תבוא?  Responsibility of the oath brit faith centers upon acceptance of the Torah curses.  Everybody wants the blessings, but the faithful accept the curses of the Torah oath brit.  The 6 Yom Tov + Shabbat define the k’vanna of the lights of the Menorah.  התפילה does not mean prayer but rather the dedication of our עולם הבא social behaviors with our people “in the future”.  The k’vanna of a term NOT the same thing as a simple translation of that same term.

The T’NaCH and Talmud sealed Books.  Why sealed?  Because this scholarship makes its focus to understand, meaning the distinction from like from like, the k’vanna of Torah commandments rather than the words of Torah commandments.   Based upon the לשמה premise that the Name of HaShem a Spirit and not a word.  The words of the Torah stand as תולדות of the Name השם.  Learning to raise words unto tohor middot defines the substance of all T’NaCH and Talmudic scholarship spirituality.  Hence the language of מלכות exists as tohor middot and NOT kingship – as commonly mistranslated.  קריאת שמע, תפילה, ברכת כהנים all lack שם ומלכות.  Why?  Because neither שם ומלכות exist as words, but rather as spirits!  The precedent of spirits, the mitzva of blowing the shofar as the basis by which the Cohen HaGado pronounces the Name השם on Yom Kippur.

In tefillah when the Siddur comes to the Name השם our lips pronounce Adonoi – a word.  The lips frame and pronounce words.  But the שם השם NOT a word.  Abba Shaul teaches that a person who attempts to pronounce the Name of השם according to the dikduk of the grammar, ibn Ezra – big on dikduk as the p’shat of the words of the Chumash, חייב כרת.  This opening Mishna which we study examines the din of כרת.  Interpreted to mean, the loss of the Title inheritance: chosen Cohen nation as our עולם הבא inheritance to our children and their children and children’s children etc.  The term יראת שמים, interpreted to mean, fear of lossing ones’ good reputation or baal Shem Tov.  

I continually bring up the example of the Shoah, the Europeans lost their “white man’s burden” moral superiority.  These sub-human barbarians can never again pretend to judge Israel, despite the EU’s Winnie the Poo paper Tigger: the ICC.  The latter non-sense court exists consequent to the Rome Treaty.  But no European court ever tried the church for war crimes, despite the Rome treaty of international law.  And post Shoah, no European court has jurisdiction over Israel or the Jewish people.  Why?  Because Europeans have no fear of Heaven, they have lost their 19th Century First World status reputation.  A man strives to build his reputation, but in a moment of stupidity can forever lose that Baal Shem Tov.  Interpreting the intent of ideas most essentially defines the meaning of tohor middot spirits.  The European International Court, nothing more than a cartoon that bounces upon its tail.  The burden of ruling ארץ ישראל, the mussar to judge Jewish internal disputes with righteous justice: fair compensation for damages inflicted.  Aimed to achieve intra-bnai brit diplomacy among our splintered and divided People.

Religious observance of commandments masks, obscures and perverts the essence of Torah faith, the pursuit of justice among our people.  A fair restoration of damages which our people have inflicted upon one another.  Such that we can, following the judicial judgment, respect and love the connection we share as a unique people on this Earth; that the din of כרת does not cut off our inheritance to the chosen Cohen nation, through hatred without cause, as our eternal inheritance נמשל interpretation of the sworn oath brit משל inheritance sworn by השם unto Avot, concerning the land of Israel.  The discipline of making דיוקים/inferences, the RambaN commentary to the Chumash refers to as “black fire on white fire”.  Torah common law compares to Jame Joice’s avant-garde “stream of consciousness” style of writing, my metaphor of a jug full of water shattering upon the floor.  Perhaps comparable to Ari’s mystic kabbalah, the shattering of the vessels.   The Ari’s explanation for evil in the world.  Kabbalah instruction employs cryptic language metaphors, because the heart and soul of Torah scholarship focuses upon interpreting the k’vanna of ideas, rather than simply translating or worshipping words.  The Koran mocks Jews, calling us ‘the People of the Book’, probably because Arabs thought g’lut Jews only worshipped words!

Greetings Richard, Hope I have not overwhelmed you.

Jewish law like any scholarship requires lots of research.  Suggest you watch the movie: “The Paper Chase”.  Photographic memory, while nice, does not replace the logic required to compare A Case before the Court with earlier or contemporary Cases brought before other Courtrooms!  Common law/משנה תורה Mishna — represents a Case/Din system.  The style of the Gemara common law/משנה תורה commentary on the Mishna –קושיא ותירוץ\תשובה.  This style reflects the composition of the 3 man Torts Court which assigns one of the judges as prosecuting attorney and a second judge assigned as defense attorney.  These two judges argue their respective Cases to their opposing Judge with the aim to convince that judge to embrace their argument.  If after both opposing judges close their arguments and neither has persuaded the opposing judge to embrace the merits of their respective arguments.  Then you have what the Talmud refers to as a תיקו/draw or hung jury.  In the situation of a תיקו, the 3rd justice decides the ruling.May i recommend that you acquire: Jastrow’s Aramaic dictionary and Frank’s Practical Talmud Dictionary, cause you shall at this early stage need to acquire the skills to break down verbs into 3 even 2 letter שרשים/roots.  The Hebrew language and Aramaic as well spins around the central axis of verbs.  The substance of communicating any idea requires most essentially verbs NOT adjectives or pronouns or adverbs.

Avoid the Brisker method of pilpulism which defines the “flat earth” of Modern Orthodox Torah scholarship.  The same suggestion equally applies to the flat head box thinking which defines the Orthodox statute law thinking/nonsense-thinking religious fanaticism.   Talmudic scholarship requires that you develop the discipline of, by your own כח/power of your mind, make the required דיוקים.  A דיוק – a logical inference, something like Ying & Yang\Male & Female.

You have looked at ארבעה אבות נזיקין now for some time.  What does this Mishna address?  Two types of damages recognized before the Court תם ומועד.  So what does ox, hole, tooth, and fire represent?  Answer: תם.  If there exist 4 types of תם damages, then דיוק, there equally exists (אדם מועד לעולם) 4 Av מועד damages: חמס גזל ערוה ואי צדק במשפט.  Our Mishna does not bring the damages caused directly by Man!  As written previously, it seems to me, that as the Gemarah of Shabbat makes a focus upon forbidden מלאכות, our Gemarah makes a focus upon forbidden עבודות.  A person cannot in truth observe Shabbat as holy unless he makes the required הבדלה which distinguishes the dedication as holy to HaShem (the idea of korbanot) not to do forbidden מלאכות, by equally dedicating the עבודת השם of committing on the coming 6 days of Chol in עולם הבא/the world to come, not doing forbidden עבודה.  Which the דיוק made upon our Mishna learns as חמס, גזל, ערוה, ואי צדק במשפט.  These latter אבות נזיקין apply strictly to אדם and not to השור.

Now contrast this learning with that of the Baali Tosafot which opens with a precedents from כריתות, שבועות, וראש השנה.  The Baali Tosafot, highly influenced by the Rashi commentary on the Talmud!  But Rashi’s commentary of p’shat on the Talmud 180 degrees contradicts Rashi’s p’shat theory on the Chumash!!!  This elephant in the china closet, never addressed in any Yeshiva which I personally attended!  Why?  Over 500 super commentaries made upon Rashi’s commentary to the Chumash, and none which I have seen, (do not claim to have read them all), questions, much less challenges the blatant contradiction between Rashi p’shat on the Chumash with Rashi p’shat on the Talmud!  Have heard lots of noise made by people who seem to think they need to justify Rashi.  Narishkeit.  

Rashi made a conscious and bold decision.  If he taught his p’shat which he did on the Chumash also on the Talmud, then Goyim (Rashi witnessed the 1st Crusades.  The Worms massacre happened in 1096.  Rashi passed in ll05), might discover the פרדס kabbalah of logic.  To keep matters in perspective Rabbenu Tam, the most famous of the Baali Tosafot grandchildren of Rashi, died in 1171.  The Rambam, the נידוי רשע, did not publish his Yad Chazakah statute law perversion of the Talmud until the 1180s.  Did the Baali Tosafot agree with the charem which the Court of Rabbenu Yona condemned the Rambam?  The סמג, a Baali Tosafot Reshon, based his commentary which learned the Talmudic halachot to the תרי”ג mitzvot, clearly the Rambam held in very high esteem by the Smag/סמג.  Nonetheless, despite this strong evidence which argues against the majority of the Baali Tosafot supporting the נידוי harem which Rabbenu Yonah court placed upon the Rambam.  It seems to me that the burning of the Talmud in Paris in 1242, the Rosh personally witnessed this absolute disaster, and the Rosh held a very hostile view of the Rambam, that the flames of the Civil War in Spain had spread to France, and to all Western Europe.  The ensuing anarchy among the Jewish people invited the Goyim to intervene.  The Vatican Poop and the king of France plunged all the handwritten manuscripts of the Talmud (invention of the printing press around 1440) onto the Nazi book burning flames.  The common law German courts failed to stop the imposition of crushing ‘Taxation without Representation’ imposed upon Jews of Germany.  The Vatican Poop decreed the ghetto war crime false imprisonment of Western European Jewry.  Jews fled this חמס,גזל, ערוה, ואי צדק במשפט, a mass Jewish population transfer to Eastern Europe, the Ukraine, and Poland ensued.